The Jackrabbit women’s basketball team started 0-2 after falling to BYU, 81-53, on Friday Nov. 8 and the Creighton Bluejays, 68-63 Tuesday night. Even though the Jacks improved Tuesday Nov. 12 following the loss to BYU, they still have a lot that needs to be worked on.

“There weren’t really any things that we did well today,” said head coach Aaron Johnston in regards to Friday’s loss. “We made some three’s, I don’t want to make that one of the positives, we weren’t really good. We didn’t move the ball very well offensively.”

In Friday’s loss the Jackrabbits only shot 27 percent compared to the Cougar’s 47 percent. Proving difficult for any team to be successful on the court with that margin of difference. The Jackrabbits did improve in Tuesday nights loss as they saw boosts in shooting percentage, rebounds, and assists. 

One big factor that contributed to Friday’s loss to the Cougars was the presence of the 6 foot 7 Jennifer Hamson. Hamson was a big factor in the paint as she recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks. 

“They ended up with 32 points in the paint,” Johnston said. “We just couldn’t get anybody that wanted to post up down there, and nobody really wanted to throw it down there either. Our defense also pretty much just tanked down the stretch, we just didn’t have the fight in us.”

Being as deep as the Jackrabbits are they are able to go to their bench more willingly than other teams, giving the starters crucial breaks throughout the game. In Friday’s loss to the Cougars the Jackrabbit bench accumulated 24 points.

“That just means our starters were not good,” Johnston said. “I thought our bench even looked rattled to be honest with you.”

“Just didn’t play out like we wanted it to,” senior guard Tara Heiser said. “We had a few good exhibition games, and I think we just had a false sense of hope of what we had to do tonight.”

The game against the Creighton Jays was much more intense, which is a sign of hopefully good things to come for the Jackrabbits. They kept the game close and entertaining the whole way.

“We definitely came out with much more intensity, which is good,” junior guard Megan Waytashek said. “We need to make the key plays at the end of the game and capitalize on mistakes; I don’t think we did that tonight.”

Waytashek has now had back-to-back games of scoring in double-digits. The Minnesota native has been one of the few bright spots in these first two tough losses.

“We played much harder than we did against BYU,” Johnston said. “We just didn’t make enough plays. Second half we just missed way too many free throws, and in a close game, that is an important factor.”

The Jackrabbits face the Georgetown Hoyas this coming Friday, Nov. 15 at Frost Arena at 7 p.m.